Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026
09:45
New Variations for Strategy Set-shifting in the Rat
Published on: January 23, 2017
Varieties of behavioral natural variation
1School of Biology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0210, United States. Patrick.McGrath@biology.gatech.edu
Current Opinion in Neurobiology
|August 15, 2012
Summary
Understanding how behavior evolves requires studying genetic inheritance and fixation within species. Genetic networks influence which genetic variants are favored by evolution, impacting behavioral evolution complexity.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Behavioral genetics
- Genomics
Background:
- Behavioral evolution is shaped by both short-term experience and long-term evolutionary processes.
- Understanding the genetic basis of heritable behavioral differences is crucial for studying evolution.
- Complex genetic architectures, involving multiple small-effect variants, underlie behavioral variation between individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how underlying genetic networks influence the selection of genetic variants during evolution.
- To connect the genetic basis of individual behavioral differences to species-level evolutionary trajectories.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on behavioral genetics and evolutionary theory.
- Conceptual analysis of genetic network architecture and its evolutionary implications.
- Integration of findings from population genetics and molecular evolution studies.
Main Results:
- The structure of genetic networks significantly constrains the types of genetic variants that can be effectively selected during evolution.
- Complex genetic architectures can lead to non-intuitive evolutionary outcomes for behavioral traits.
- Understanding genetic networks is key to predicting evolutionary responses of behavior.
Conclusions:
- Genetic networks play a critical role in shaping the evolutionary pathways of behavior.
- Future research should focus on the interplay between genetic architecture and evolutionary selection on behavior.
- This framework aids in understanding the evolution of complex traits in natural populations.
Related Concept Videos
00:54What is Behavior?
Behaviors are actions that an organism engages in—they can be related to finding food, reproducing, defending against threats, and many other possible actions. Behaviors include activities related to the environment around the animal—such as migration—as well as social interactions within a species or population. Many behaviors involve motor output—that is, muscle movements—while others involve less visible actions, such as learning.
01:23Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs
Behavior genetics explores how genetic inheritance influences human behavior. It focuses on how genes, passed from parents to offspring, contribute to the development of behavioral traits and tendencies. This branch of genetics seeks to understand the complex interplay between inherited genetic factors and environmental influences in shaping our behaviors.
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
02:30Naturalistic Observations
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
01:14What is Variation?
Apart from the measures of central tendency, distribution, outliers, and the changing characteristics of data with time, an important characteristic of any data set is its variation or spread. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in others, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean.
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
Range: The range is the difference between its maximum and...
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
Range: The range is the difference between its maximum and...
01:05Instinctive Drift
Instinctive drift refers to the tendency of animals to revert to their innate behaviors despite repeated reinforcement. Breland and Breland demonstrated this concept in an experiment with a raccoon. The raccoon was trained to pick up two coins and place them in a container in exchange for food. Initially, the raccoon learned to associate the coins with food, making them a conditioned stimulus or a substitute for food. However, over time, the raccoon became less willing to put the coins into the...
01:46Types of Selection
Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...